Halfway through the fight, his opponent gave up. Jostar was clearly displeased and wanted to get Silvagon back into the battle, but the sight of it—despite being a ferocious monster, it was somehow doing something unexpectedly adorable.
You couldn't dance alone. That was common sense.
When it hugged its own tail, the tall, burly creature in front of it stopped attacking. Silvagon seemed to realize something and hugged its tail even tighter, unconsciously biting the tip.
Silvagon's tail was covered in spikes. Its vacant, pupil-less eyes only made it look even more bewildered, as if it were questioning its very existence.
Jostar could only stand there with his hands on his hips, watching the big cutie chew on its own tail.
Jostar hadn't come here to eliminate Silvagon in the first place. He'd only come out to get some practice in, and he wasn't going to force it once it had lost the will to fight.
A sudden idea popped into his head.
Jostar pointed at himself with his index finger, raised his thumb, then pointed at Silvagon and stuck out his pinky, using gestures to try to tame the creature.
Silvagon was pretty clever. It raised its right claw and copied Jostar's gesture.
Jostar:
He rapped Silvagon on the head, then repeated the gesture.
Silvagon covered the spot where it had been hit. It seemed to get the gist and obediently nodded.
Jostar made a cupping gesture, and Silvagon obediently copied him. The little movements of its stubby arms were unexpectedly adorable.
Seeing Silvagon being so well-behaved, Jostar nodded, transformed into a streak of rainbow light, and landed squarely on its upturned palm.
The memory of the pain was still fresh. Silvagon didn't dare close its claw, holding it open pitifully and hoping that even a slight bend wouldn't earn it another smack.
Its eyesight was pretty poor, but that didn't mean Silvagon was blind. It carefully lowered its head and placed Jostar beside the horns on top of its head.
Once Jostar was sure Silvagon had no intention of resisting, he lightly stepped onto its head, braced one hand against a horn, and pointed forward with the other.
Like a hero piloting a mecha, the Silver Dragon Silvagon set off on its stubby legs. Wherever Jostar pointed, it went.
Even after Jostar stopped transforming and returned to human form, the nearsighted Silvagon remained just as obedient.
Or perhaps, to Silvagon, there was no difference between the human in front of it and Jostar.
Thanks to a strange magnetic field, the Shishinohana Forest had existed for an unknown length of time. After the heavy snowfall of the past few days, fluffy, glistening snow gleamed coldly beneath the sun.
It had a tranquil beauty unlike anything in the city—if you ignored the path of destruction Silvagon had left behind.
Zhou Hong committed the scenery to memory. As Silvagon walked on, a heap of scrap cars from another world came into view.
They belonged to travelers who had come seeking thrills, or perhaps wandered into this forest by mistake. Unable to find their way out, they had died after wandering through the woods.
Their deaths actually had very little to do with Silvagon.
Just as its classification suggested, the Powerful Monster Silver Dragon Silvagon didn't have the ability to open something like the Space-Time Realm. Perhaps the space here had opened by accident.
The spot where the Rainbow Magic Mirror had opened was a long way off. Moving so many remains would undoubtedly be extremely dangerous.
Silver Dragon Silvagon wasn't the only monster in this Space-Time Realm.
As for what the people at TPC chose to do, that wasn't something he could control.
But thinking of Grandma waiting anxiously at home, Zhou Hong still hoped TPC would choose to recover the remains.
He patted Silvagon's curved horn and pointed toward the inverted rainbow that had reappeared. Silvagon understood and slowly headed that way.
When they reached the Rainbow Magic Mirror's exit, Zhou Hong lightly patted Silvagon's horn. Though they'd only been together a short time, Silvagon seemed almost telepathically attuned to him and lowered its body.
It was careful not to tremble and upset the big shot on its head, keeping remarkably steady.
When his feet touched the ground, Zhou Hong felt he could boast that he was now a certified druid.
"Go on back, Silvagon." He pointed in the direction Silvagon had come from.
The fierce-looking monster suddenly gave a faint smile. Like a child, it turned and walked away.
It was just a little too heavy, and made a little too much noise.
Looking at Silvagon, Zhou Hong figured it would probably be terrified whenever it saw a human for quite some time.
After all, its poor eyesight was a serious weakness right now.
But the way it darted off without looking back suggested it was going to flee far from this place that had broken its heart.
As he parted from the pet he'd just become "telepathically attuned" to, Zhou Hong stepped out of the Rainbow Magic Mirror. Looking at the long mountain road, he suddenly remembered his other ride.
"My motorcycle!" His anguished scream echoed through the Shishinohana Forest.
Fortunately, it wasn't snowing. Unfortunately, the Shishinohana Forest covered an enormous area.
Zhou Hong had been running for a long while before his communicator finally started working again. Without hesitation, he immediately called GUTS.
"Hello, Daigo." Zhou Hong spoke softly. "I ran into a monster near the Shishinohana Forest. We're not fighting it—we need to seal it off."
"Use my location. Things are a little complicated in the Shishinohana Forest, so come over first. It'll take too long to explain everything right now."
Daigo, who knew him well, quickly reported the situation to Megumi Iruma. Before long, two fighter jets came speeding through the sky.
"What's going on, Hong?" Munakata was the first to get off the plane.
After listening to the explanation and understanding the situation, Munakata immediately called headquarters to request support.
Personnel arrived aboard transport planes, carrying all sorts of equipment. They followed Zhou Hong toward the Rainbow Magic Mirror.
"Just pass beneath the rainbow and you'll reach another isolated space. There's more than one monster in there, so be careful if you go inside."
"What an incredible place." Daigo trusted Zhou Hong completely.
"Seal off this area and put up warning signs." Munakata immediately gave orders to the logistics and ground support teams.
"All right, I'm going back to my vacation." Zhou Hong took the motorcycle from Guts Wing 2 and rode off.
"Why does that guy always find a monster and then leave so casually?" Shinjoh complained, sounding envious and bitter.
Before you continue